Gold, crude oil, and soybeans fell as equities dropped because of a worsening outlook for company earnings, renewing concern the global financial crisis will curtail energy and commodity demand.
Gold for immediate delivery was down $US1.2 at $US745.00 an ounce as of 9:30 a.m. Singapore time and platinum fell $US10, or 1.2%, to $US847.00 an ounce. Soybeans for delivery in January delivery in Chicago dropped 10.75 cents, or 1.1%, to $US9.3725 per bushel and copper for three-month delivery in London was down $US5 at $US3,870 a metric ton.
Oil also slumped as Japanese stock markets started the day down 1.6%, following a drop in US equities. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index retreated 1.3% yesterday, extending last week's 3.9% slide. Crude rose yesterday on a $US586 billion Chinese economic stimulus plan.
''The weakness in equity markets is adding to concerns about the international economic outlook and what that means for consumption,'' said David Moore, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank in Sydney. ''Even with the stimulus plan in China and interest rate cuts elsewhere, the markets are still worried about slower growth.''
Crude oil for December delivery fell as much as $US2.12, or 3.4%, to $US60.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $US60.41 a barrel at 9:53 a.m. Singapore time. Oil slumped 10% last week as equities dropped, US fuel stockpiles rose more than expected and the nation's unemployment rate climbed to a 14-year high.
Prices, which have tumbled 59% since reaching a record $US147.27 on July 11, are down 36% from a year ago. Yesterday, oil rose $US1.37, or 2.2%, to $US62.41 a barrel, and also dropped to $US59.10, the lowest since March 20, 2007.
The Group of 20 nations said it's prepared to act ''urgently'' and called for lower interest rates. OPEC, the International Energy Agency and the US Energy Department have cut fuel-demand forecasts over the past month.
Commodities
US crude-oil supplies probably rose for a seventh week as imports rebounded, a Bloomberg News survey of analysts showed.
Stockpiles probably increased 500,000 barrels in the week ended Nov. 7 from 311.9 million the week before, according to the median of nine analyst estimates before an Energy Department report this week.
Gasoline inventories probably climbed 500,000 barrels from 196.1 million barrels the week before, according to the survey. Supplies of distillate fuel, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, rose 1.1 million barrels from 127.8 million barrels the week before, according to the survey.
